


From Supers to Sugar Plums

by Artistia



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Be surprised on the rest, F/F, Fluff, More Fluff, Nutcracker Lena, Sick Kara, Sorta Nutcracker AU, did i say fluff, tons of fluff, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 15:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13149801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artistia/pseuds/Artistia
Summary: When a powerless Kara catches a cold during the holiday season, she finds she has more than sugar plums dancing in her head.





	From Supers to Sugar Plums

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadowsinthedark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsinthedark/gifts).



> So I started this story like a month ago, all because I thought of how cool Lena would look dressed up as a nutcracker soldier, so I just went with it. It's been forever since I've seen any version of the Nutcracker, never much liked the ballet because it seemed to lack a general plot, but I went with something different.
> 
> And then I started casting other characters in this mess, and it just evolved from there. Meant to be a long one shot and I succeeded!
> 
> To all the Supercorp shippers waiting for me to write one, hopefully this will tide you over until I get something else going. Not part of secret Santa, but posting it around christmas anyway.

* * *

 

“I’m going to die,” Kara moaned before a raging cough escaped her mouth. When the coughing subsided, the blonde sank pitifully back down into the cushions beneath her body and clutched the quilt tighter around her shivering frame. 

“You’re not going to die Kara,” Alex rolled her eyes as she stood at the kitchen island carefully measuring out doses of cough syrup into small cups. She was pouring a little more than the recommended dose, but even without her powers, Kara was still an alien with an alien biology. Even still, the extra cough syrup each dose wouldn’t hurt her, just make her a little loopier than normal, which would hopefully quiet her incessant whining. 

“Come on Little Danvers,” Maggie said, slowly approaching the bundled alien. “You’re not going to die from a common cold.”

A snort and another series of coughs came from the bundle before Kara emerged and turned one tired eye on the detective. “You try not getting sick for over thirteen years and see how you feel,” she muttered before returning to her sanctuary. “And we didn’t have colds on Krypton! We had a cure for that! Stupid, backwards, prehistoric humans…” 

Maggie smirked back at Alex who continued to shake her head and mumble about ridiculously dramatic Kryptonians as she continued sifting through the medicine and containers of soup on Kara’s fridge. “When is Lena coming home?” Maggie murmured in Alex’s ear as she helped her fiancée put everything away except for a lone cup of cough syrup and a bowl of soup.

“Not soon enough,” Alex grumbled. “As soon as she’s back, Kara is her problem.”

“You’ll still be coming to check up on your sister and you know it,” Maggie smirked, glancing back at the bundled pillow. “And I have to admit, she’s rather cute when she’s like this, like a soft, lumpy burrito.”

“She is really snuggly when she’s powerless,” Alex agreed. “More so than usual, and it’s nice because when she clings onto you, you don’t have to worry about your ribs. It’s just always worse when she manages to get sick because I have to worry about it developing into the flu or pneumonia.” 

“Sunny D will be alright Danvers,” Maggie told her. “She just needs fluids and rest, and you're loading her up with enough cough syrup to put a horse to sleep.”

“I don't like leaving her here alone when she’s like this, you know what’s she’s like, she can barely function.”

“She’s curled up on her couch whining pitifully with a cold,” the detective countered. “She’s not going to be going anywhere or doing anything, and you need to go to work. You know I would stay with her but I just caught a case…”

“And you need to go too, I know,” Alex sighed, before looking back at her sister. “She’ll be fine, I’ll give her her medicine, get some fluids in her and she’ll be out in no time.” Before she walked out of the kitchen towards the ailing alien, Alex pulled Maggie into a soft kiss that left a smile on the other woman’s lips.

“What was that for?” She asked, dimples pronounced in her cheeks as she looked up at the auburn haired woman.

Alex brushed the back of her hand against Maggie’s face as she tucked some hair behind her ears. “Just thought you deserved some affection, for being so great and understanding with my sister, and knowing how much she means to me and needs me.”

“I love your relationship with your sister Danvers, and I don’t want to come between that,” Maggie replied, running her hands along Alex’s ribcage. “I just want to be a part of it, that’s all.”

“Hmm, you are,” Alex replied, kissing the woman again. “Now can you go to the bedroom and grab the nutcracker off the bedside table, while I get the ill one situated with her medication?”

Maggie quickly located the item and returned to the living room and found that Alex had managed to get Kara sitting up on the couch, sipping at her bowl of soup. “What’s the deal with this nutcracker anyway?” 

“Jeremiah gave it to me the first Christmas after I landed,” Kara replied, her nose stuffed, making her voice thicker and heavier. “They’re very similar to a toy I had on Krypton when I was younger.”

“We went to see Nutcracker ballet every year since it was Mom’s favorite ballet and it’s performed near every year at Christmas, and when Kara asked about the little nutcracker toy in the ballet, Dad got her one for Christmas,” Alex filled in while Kara returned to her soup. “She takes it out every year for Christmas, but it’s also never too far away for when she’s powerless and needs a pick me up. She just likes having it around.”

“Reminds me of home. It’s a little broken in a few places, but I still love it,” Kara muttered around her soup and Maggie had to resist the urge to coo at how cute the blonde was being. She was a badass detective, she did not coo.

Kara slowly finished the medicine and soup that Alex was nearly forcing down her throat before crumpling into her sister in exhaustion. “I know you’re tired sweetie, but I have to go to work,” Alex said, slipping off the couch and easing Kara back down onto the cushions. Another whine escaped Kara’s mouth, but Alex just shushed her as she tucked the quilt around her shoulders. “Maggie and I will be back later to check on you,” she said. She moved the nutcracker on the coffee table into Kara’s line of sight and flipped the TV on, coincidentally locating one of the movie adaptation of the Nutcracker playing on one of the 24 hour Christmas movie stations. Maggie had flipped on the Christmas tree and flameless candles dotted around the room while Alex dealt with her sister and dimmed the lights when they were getting ready to leave. The agent set another cup of cough syrup and a thermos of soup down next to the nutcracker and left Kara strict instructions to take another dose in a few hours before slipping out the door with her fiancée. 

The blonde sank low into the cushions beneath her body, her eyes heavy as she focused her blurry vision on the TV screen. Lilting tones of the dance of the sugar plum fairy had just filtered out of the speakers when Kara’s eyes finally slipped closed. 

 

* * *

 

A loud noise startled Kara from her sleep, and she jolted awake, her eyes wide as she looked around for the cause of the sound. Her eyes fell on several mice on the coffee table scurrying away with her nutcracker. “Hey,” she said, her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing, that’s mine.” She slapped her hand down where the mice were but they scurried away and slipped down the coffee table with her nutcracker in tow. She heaved herself off the couch after the rodents, trying to get back her beloved nutcracker. Before disbelieving eyes, Kara saw her nutcracker spin to life and fight back against the mice, charging at them with a small sword. A large mouse with a crown on its head appeared and started to attack the nutcracker, the other mice surrounding them also taking part of the assault. “No stop!” Kara tried again, attempting to shoo away the larger mouse.

The mouse hissed and tossed a fistful of powder at the blonde, causing her to erupt in another coughing fit. When she opened her eyes, Kara realized that the world was spinning around her and growing larger with every spin. The couch, the cabinet, the TV, the Christmas tree, everything grew in leaps and bounds until she was dwarfed by everything in the room. “What the-” Kara started, whirling around. “How did the room get bigger?” Before she could register what was happening, one of the mice grabbed her and dashed towards a mouse hole obscured in the corner of the wall. “Hey, let me go!” Kara cried, wiggling to get loose from the rodent.

Her nutcracker chased after them and grabbed onto the mouse as they hurled through the hole, quickly falling down through the darkness. The wooden figure hit at the mouse, finally freeing Kara from its grasp as they continued to fall. Kara flailed her arms and grasped at the nutcracker, wrapping her arms around its neck as she braced herself for the impending impact with the ground. Her fear of heights that she had on Krypton came back full force for the first time in thirteen years, and she squeezed her eyes shut to avoid seeing whatever was coming.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, hey,” a voice called, rousing Kara from unconsciousness. “Hey, wake up!” Kara blinked her eyes open and immediately brought her arm up to block out the harsh rays of sunlight beating down on her. “Oh good,” the voice came again. “You’re not dead.”

Kara glanced over towards the voice and blinked again, trying to understand the sight of her nutcracker kneeling next to her. “Wha…” She started, trying to sit up.

The nutcracker’s eyes widened and attempted to help her up, “Wait, here, let me help you up, get you out of the snow, that has to be cold.”

“Um, okay,” Kara replied, letting the nutcracker help her up off the ground, suddenly realizing that everything around her was covered in snow. “Wait, wait, wait a minute, what exactly is going on here? Where are we, what happened, and you can talk! You’re a nutcracker, you can talk and move, and what is going on?”

“Kara, Kara!” The nutcracker tried again, setting wooden hands on either side of the blonde’s shoulder and giving her a good shake. Kara turned wide blue eyes back on the nutcracker. “Okay good,” it replied, “Just take a few deep breaths, calm down, breathe.”

The Kryptonian took a few deep, cleansing breaths before backing away from the nutcracker. “Okay, okay, I’m calm, I’m calm, deep breaths,” Kara breathed out before looking back at the former toy. “What in the snickers is happening?!”

“Alright, well, you saw the battle with the evil mouse king, Mousewell Lord,” the nutcracker replied. 

“What did you say his name was?” Kara blinked.

“Mousewell Lord. You tried to keep him from kidnapping me, but he used his magic powder on you and you shrunk. He tried to kidnap you, but I stopped him, though we still ended up back in Castellia, fortunately separated from the mouse king and his army.”

“Castellia?”

The Nutcracker gestured around them as best as it could with wooden limbs, “Castellia, land of candy and dreams, it looks like we fell in Candy Cane forest.”

“Oh Rao this isn’t happening right now,” Kara muttered, glancing down at her puppy print pajama pants. When she looked back up, she found the nutcracker staring at her in concern, “You are… you are  _ my  _ nutcracker aren’t you?”

“Of course Kara, that’s how I know you.”

“Okay, so I’m in a magical, candy land with my toy nutcracker being chased by a mouse king,” Kara scratched her scalp and tugged at her hair in frustration. She glanced up at the nutcracker, taking in the dark hair falling down from under the blue soldier’s hat, the pale lacquered skin, and the vivid green eyes. “What do I call you?” She asked, “I just can’t keep referring to you as Nutcracker can I?”

“Um,” the nutcracker tapped at its cheek, “You can call me Lee, I think that’s my name.”

“You think?”

The nutcracker, Lee, shrugged, wooden joints clanking together, “I don’t have many memories, though I know that I haven’t always been a nutcracker. I was a soldier actually.”

“Well that explains the crisp red uniform,” Kara murmured.

Lee puffed up proudly, “Yes, I was one of the first female guard members at the royal palace, charged with protecting the royal family.”

“You’re a girl, er, woman?”

The nutcracker looked affronted, “Of course, you don’t see guys with these breasts do you?” Lee gestured down at her flat chest and glared down at herself, “Well, they would be there.”

“Right, okay, so how did you become a nutcracker?”

A frown crossed the nutcracker’s face, “I don’t know, I just remember being at the palace and the mouse king attacked, it was the same night that the princess disappeared.”

“The princess of Castellia?” Kara guessed. This was a bit difficult for her to follow, but she was still grappling with being in a magical kingdom and stuck at the size of a nutcracker. What was in that stuff that Alex had given her?

Lee nodded, “Yes, with her missing, Mousewell Lord easily took over with his army and enslaved all of Castellia.”

“So what do we do now?” Kara asked, “Mousewell… The Mouse King is the one that did this to us.”

“We need to find a way to get you back to normal size and then back home. I will go from there and try to find what’s left of the royal guard to take back the kingdom and hopefully find the princess.”

“You’re not expecting me to leave you to do that all by yourself are you?” Kara questioned, looking at the nutcracker wide-eyed. “I’m not going to abandon you to sort this mess out, besides I have a bone to pick with that mouse.”

“I can’t ask you to put yourself in danger like that, it is my duty to see you home safely.”

“Can’t do that until I’m my regular size again, so in the meantime, I will tag along with you and help you as best as I can,” Kara stated. She turned away from the gaping nutcracker and glanced around them. They were stranded in a forest with vivid evergreens and candy cane trees, snow covering every inch of the ground and high in the trees. “So what is the plan exactly, how do we break both of our curses, find the missing princess, and defeat the Mouse King?”

Lee hummed and tapped on her chin, “Well, most of those questions can be solved by finding the Sugar Plum Fairy Queen, though no one has really seen her in years.”

_ Sugar Plum Fairy Queen,  _ Kara thought,  _ what did Alex put in that medicine?  _ “So how do we find her?”

Before the Nutcracker could answer her, a light rustling in the trees drew their attention and Lee quickly pushed Kara behind her, drawing the sword. “Well this is different,” the bonde murmured and glanced over the wooden shoulder in front of her. She couldn’t see anything through the dense trees and snow around them, but suddenly Kara caught sight of movement in front of them. “The trees are moving,” she whispered, horrified, “Why are the trees moving?”

“They’re not trees,” Lee responded. “They’re villagers, rebels, we must of landed near the Gingerbread village.”

“The Gingerbread village,” Kara repeated slowly. She would have to take the drugs Alex gave her more often. One of the lumps of pine needles, candy cane strips and snow moved closer and the blonde realized that the people were wearing disguises to function as camouflage. The advancing figure halted and stared at Lee’s raised sword for a moment before drawing back their hood. “Alex…” Kara whispered in confusion as she stared at the other woman.

The Alex-look-alike glanced briefly at Kara in confusion before turning her gaze to the Nutcracker soldier in front of her. “You’re dressed like one from the royal guard,” she accused, her gaze firm. “Did the Mouse Pretender send you here?”

Lee let out an indignant squawk at the statement and set the tip of her sword against the ground as she stood up straight and stared down the woman. “Me! In league with that… that barbarian! How dare you insinuate something so ludicrous, I was a part of the royal guard for the princess, the rightful ruler of Castellia! I wouldn’t even, the very idea is not only absurd but insulting.”

Not-Alex paused and stared at the nutcracker warily, “How do we know that what you’re saying is true, that you were a guard for our princess? How do we know that you weren’t sent here by the Pretender to spy on us and learn of our plans?”

“I doubt that Mousewell knows anything about you this far away from the castle. He’s much more concerned with the settlements closer to him,” Lee replied.

The woman stared at Lee for a little longer before her eyes shifted to Kara. “Who’s she?”

“She’s with me,” Lee responded stiffly. “She tried to help me when the Mouse King came after me and he cursed her, cursed both of us really. We need to find the Sugar Plum Fairy Queen, can you help us?”

“No one has seen the Fairy Queen in many years,” a gruff voice came from behind those gathered around Kara and her nutcracker. Not-Alex shifted slightly to allow a taller figure to pass by her and Kara’s eyes bugged out again. It was J’onn, but not J’onn. This man looked like J’onn, or really Hank Henshaw, but seemed taller, harder with a scar across his face and walked with a pronounced limp. “Stand down Lexy,” Not-J’onn said to Not-Alex, Lexy, and she reluctantly lowered the axe she was holding. The man turned back to the two women and studied them for a moment before gesturing with his head. “Come with me, the village isn’t too far away.”

Lee kept Kara close to her as they trooped through the snow and trees, her wooden hand wrapped firmly around the soft, fleshy one in her grasp. The soldier kept a wary look on the other people around them as they walked, her instincts commanding her to never let up her guard, even when in a relatively safe environment. Kara looked around curiously as they walked, her eyes focusing on the candy cane trees, part of her wondering if they were edible. Recognizing J’onn and Alex, she wondered if she had somehow ended up on an alternate Earth, and if that was the case, it was a weird, fantastic Earth with edible trees.

When they broke through the treeline and came to a small clearing, Kara gaped at the small village that came into view. “When you said Gingerbread village,” she started, “I didn’t think you meant  _ Gingerbread village _ .”

“What happened?” Lee asked, directing her question to Not-J’onn. She looked around the village and saw the ruins of gingerbread houses that used to be standing, just crumbled wrecks of walls and icing.

“The village was one of the first places hit during the Mouse King’s quest for power,” Not-J’onn replied. “I was, well I guess I still am the mayor of the village, and I was able to save my people with a strategic retreat into the forest and up into the mountains. In our absence though, the village was completely destroyed.” He sighed as he looked over the wreckage, “We have managed to rebuild as best as we could but without proper supplies and with it being the dead of winter, it’s difficult.”

“How do you get by?” Kara asked. She couldn’t see anything sustainable for food or warmth as they carved out a living in a broken village, other than the trees and the houses themselves.

“Many of us were hunters or farmers by trade,” Lexy replied, drawing Kara’s attention. The woman had been walking next to her and Kara had to note the similarity between the gruff woman and her sister. They both walked as if the wait of the world was on their shoulders, and clutched their weapons ready for a fight. “Those of us who could hunt would set traps, lures and snares, and catch small rodents or other animals for food, while the rest harvested berries and edible plants while they worked out salvaging what was left of the winter crops.” She gestured with her head over behind one of the buildings towards a smaller clearing, “Managed to recover a few seeds and plant a new crop, but they won’t be ready for some months now.”

“And which category did you fall under?” The blonde questioned.

Lexy gave her a suspicious look but answered, “I am a trapper, I’ve been hunting and catching critters my whole life since my parents died. It’s real easy to sell the skins, and other parts so I managed to get by. I was here when the Mouse King attacked, and Jones asked me to stay so I did.” Kara guessed that Not-J’onn was in fact Jones and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the coincidence.

Jones ushered them all into one of the larger buildings, and sat down at a rugged looking table, motioning for Kara and Lee to follow suit. The blonde gingerly sat down on one of the chairs, but Lee chose to remain standing, finding it easier to stand for long periods of time as a nutcracker. Lexy didn’t stray far from the group, and chose to stand near the soldier, keeping a wary eye on both of the visitors. “Now,” Jones started, looking at the two. “You were both apparently cursed by the Mouse King correct?” Both Kara and Lee nodded and the man continued, “And you’re looking for the Sugar Plum Fairy Queen to break the curse the Mouse King placed on you?” They nodded again, and Jones leaned back in his chair with a troubled look on his face. “I remember hearing legends about the Fairy Queen when I was a boy, though no one had seen her in many years, and it’s been even longer now. I can’t even say that she’s real and not a myth dreamed up by parents to give hope to children in dark times.”

“We have to at least try to find her,” Lee protested. “She might be the only one capable of finding the princess and defeating the Mouse King.”

“Jones, if this queen has magic, wouldn’t she be able to undo the damage caused by the Mousewell and his thugs?” Lexy questioned, leaning forward to set her hand on the table.

“If she exists, then yes, she is rumored to have great and powerful magic, powerful enough to break curses, change seasons, even predict the future,” Jones hummed. “But that is all useless if you can’t find her.” He leaned forward and set his elbows on the table, resting his head on top of his folded hands. “There have been rumors of a queen in the far north, one with great magic and a fierce reputation, my best guess is to start there.”

“Far north,” Lee murmured, “Beyond the Norja fjord?”

“Yes, it’s frozen over this time of year, so it should be easy to navigate,” Jones replied. “We don’t have any way to help you in your quest, but we can provide you with some supplies.”

“I have a sleigh,” Lexy said suddenly. “I have a sleigh and a couple of reindeer, I can take them.”

“You can take us?” Lee stated, turning her attention to the woman. “What makes you think that you’re invited?”

Lexy glared at the nutcracker, “I still don’t trust you Woodchuck, but if this fairy queen does have great magic and can undo the damage here, I need to go looking for her too.”

“Lee,” Kara whispered at her nutcracker. “Just let her come with us, we might need an extra pair of hands in case we run into the Mouse King’s soldiers again.”

The soldier frowned but her eyes softened when she looked at Kara before hardening when she looked back over at Lexy. “Fine,” she agreed reluctantly, “You can come with us, but I warn you, if Kara gets hurt because of something you did, I hurt you.”

“I can take care of myself you know,” Kara said, looking at Lee. “I mean, not right now, obviously, but I am sort of a superhero.”

“And right now, you’re a shrunken superhero without her powers,” Lee pointed out. “In a place you’re not familiar with, so while yes I know you can take care of yourself, it doesn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes watching you.”

Kara sighed, knowing she was right, “Fine, when do we leave?”

“In the morning,” Lexy replied. “Night is falling and it’s far too cold to venture out now.” She looked over at Lee, “Come on Firewood, let’s see about heating up this place.”

“You’re a riot.”

 

* * *

 

“They’re so cute,” Kara cooed at the reindeer as she rubbed their furry faces, from their soft, slightly wet noses to velvet ears. “What are their names?” She asked, looking over at the gruff trapper.

Lexy rolled her eyes at the sight of her supposedly tough reindeer acting like overgrown puppies as the blonde petted them and paid them compliments. “Katya and Nadja,” she replied, shaking the reins to draw their attention.

“They’re female?” Kara questioned as she moved away from the animals. Lee helped her up into the sleigh behind where Lexy was sitting and finished loading the meager supplies the townspeople provided them before clumsily clambering up herself.

“Female reindeer typically keep their antlers until spring time,” Lexy responded. “Males lose them sometime in the fall, so females are typically stronger and healthier in the winter because they get access to better feeding ground.”

“That makes so much sense,” Kara muttered to herself as she thought about Santa flying around on Christmas Eve. 

The trapper looked at her curiously but just shook her head and clicked her tongue to signal for the reindeer to start walking, easily pulling the sleigh on top of the ice and snow. “We should reach the shores of the fjord by midday, and hopefully cross before the winter storm blows in.”

“What storm?” Kara asked, glancing up at the sky.

“It’s brewing from the north,” Lexy replied, “You can smell it in the air, it’ll be a rough one and I don’t want to get caught out on the ice in the middle of a storm.”

The three rode in silence, the tension between Lee and Lexy still high and Kara didn’t know how to get them to ease up on each other. They reached the frozen fjord when the trapper said they would and started the trek across, Katya and Nadja traveling slower due to the slippery ice. “Shit,” the auburn haired woman muttered as snow started to fall down around them. “I was afraid of this.”

“Can we turn around?” Lee asked, holding a coat over Kara’s head as the snow started to blow harder. “We shouldn’t be out on this ice in the middle of a storm.”

“It’s a white out,” Lexy called back against the blowing wind. “If we turn back, there’s no telling if we’ll be able to find our way back to shore. Best we can do is keep heading forward, the reindeer will know how to get us out of this better than we will.”

Lee glared at the back of the trapper’s head for a moment before helping Kara further down into the sleigh to buffer the blowing snow. It was moments like these that had her grateful for wooden skin and joints, no real need to hide from the elements. They trudged on as best as they could, but even with a mask and hood covering part of her face, Lexy couldn’t take the blowing snow any longer and hid in the back with the blonde and the nutcracker.

A great crack was heard in the ice beneath them, startling the reindeer enough to cause them to bolt. “What was that?” Kara yelled, hanging onto the two women on either side of her.

“The ice,” Lexy called back. “When the temperature drops too much too quickly it causes the water under the ice to freeze as well, cracking through the layers. The sound must’ve spooked them.”

“If they keep going at this pace blindly in the snow we’re going to-” Before Lee could finish her statement, the sleigh struck something and the three were sent careening to the side. Kara lost her grip on the sleigh and Lee as they were tossed out of it and sent headlong into piles of snow. She collided with another object with a sickening thump, and the last thing that registered in her mind was a frantic Lee calling her name.

 

* * *

 

“Ow,” Kara griped out as she slowly came back to consciousness, the back of her head throbbing slightly and her back aching from where it collided with whatever she hit. “What happened?”

“The reindeer spooked,” Lee said, setting her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “They hit something and it knocked us all off the sleigh. You and Trapper were knocked unconscious, and I tried to pull you both out of there and collect the reindeer, but the wind and snow were blowing too hard.”

The blonde nodded her head and blinked her eyes again as she took in her surroundings. She was met with walls and bars of ice, and her brow furrowed in confusion, “Where are we?”

“Trapped,” Lexy replied. “And imprisoned in case you haven’t figured out from the bars on the windows and doors.”

“Imprisoned? Who imprisoned us?”

“Several… Ice soldiers appeared through the storm and took us all into captivity,” Lee responded, shooting at glare at Lexy. “They put all of us in here and Katya and Nadja in the stables.”

“But who told them to get us?” Kara clarified.

Lexy snorted, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that fairy queen you talked about. We’re far enough north to be in the territory of that queen Jones heard legends of, much farther than anyone else has ever ventured.”

Kara looked over at the other woman, “How can you tell?”

“Let’s just say I’ve never seen this side of the north star before,” the trapper replied, banging her arm against the bars on the window.

The door on the cell clicked up and a group of guards decked out in light blue carrying swords of ice filed into the room followed by a man in an officer’s uniform. “The queen is ready to see you now,” he said, his voice much deep as he led the three through the door. The soldiers flanked them, keeping careful eyes on their prisoners, and Lee and Lexy kept wary, distrustful eyes on the guards.

They walked through hallways of ice, passing other guards stationed at rooms and other crosspoints until the reached a large set of double doors.The doors were flung open and trumpeters announced their arrival with flourishes and thrums. Kara’s eyes shifted around, quickly taking in the large high ceiling and arched windows before landing on the figure seated in a throne on the dais. The woman was sprawled out on the throne, her right leg hanging over the arm while her elbow was propped up on the opposite arm supporting her head. She was slim with dark hair and a dark olive skin tone that contrasted beautifully with the white suit that clothed her frame. The shirt under the casual suit coat was open with a split running from collar to her waistband, revealing a hint of the curve of her breasts.

“So you’re the three that decided to crash their way into my kingdom in the middle of a snowstorm,” the woman drawled out and Kara’s eyes instantly snapped to her face.

“Maggie…” She muttered as the woman who definitely was and was not her sister’s fiancée pushed herself off of the ice throne and strolled down the stairs.

“It’s not like we planned to crash into your kingdom,” Lee replied, keeping a hand on Kara’s arm. “We were traveling north looking for the Sugar Plum fairy queen when we encountered the storm.”

“The Sugar Plum fairy queen?” The woman replied, an intrigued look on her face. “I haven’t heard that name in some years, no one has seen the fairy queen in some time.”

“So you’re not the fairy queen?” Kara asked.

“No.” She gestured with both hands and sparks shot out creating beautiful crystals of ice and snow. “I am the Snow Queen, the northern territory is my domain.” The queen turned towards Lexy and lifted one of her hands to kiss the back, “But you may call me Sawyer if you wish mia bella.”

Kara saw Lexy’s ears turning a bright red and she stifled a smile at the sight.  _ I guess some things don’t change from one realm to another,  _ she thought, watching the Snow Queen and the trapper interact. The auburn haired woman tugged her hand out of the queen’s grasp and focused her eyes anywhere so that they wouldn’t stray back to the woman or the visible curve of her breasts. “We um…” Lexy started, “So you don’t know where the fairy queen is?”

“No, despite both being magical queens, we move in different circles,” Sawyer replied, her gaze shifting from Lexy back over to Lee and Kara. “Why might you three be looking for her… And are you a nutcracker?”

“That’s why we need to see the fairy queen,” Lee said. “The Mouse King cursed us and took over Castellia, we need her help to break the curses, take back the kingdom, and find the princess.”

“And for me to get back home,” Kara included, patting Lee’s arm lightly. “Though you have magic, can you help us out?”

A sorrowful look crossed Maggie’s face as she looked at the group, “I’m sorry, but my magic doesn’t work that way, and truthfully I’ve been having trouble with Mousewell encroaching on my territory as well. My guards have had to fight off numerous bands of his mouse soldiers every day.”

“Ah, snickers,” Kara murmured, rubbing her hand on her face. “If you’re having trouble dealing with that… that rodent, how are we supposed to deal with him? Lexy is a gifted hunter, and Lee’s a soldier stuck as a nutcracker while I’m… I’m powerless right now.”

“Powerlessness is only a state of mind,” the queen said, turning fully to the blonde. “Everyone has some power, if they don’t it’s because they chose to give it away. All they would need to do is take it back.” She stepped away from the group for a moment, her hands in her pockets and she shifted on her feet while she thought. “I might not be able to help you break your curses but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do something about it,” Sawyer commented, turning back to them. “The source of the Mouse King’s power is his staff, you destroy his staff, then all of his magic dissolves, including the curses.”

“So, you’re saying if we break Mousewell’s staff, that he’ll lose his power?” Lexy clarified. “That might break his hold on the royal army.”

“Beautiful and intelligent, where have you been all of my life,” Sawyer purred, grabbing the trapper’s hands to place another kiss on her knuckles. “What must I do to get you to stay here with me and be my queen?”

Kara bit back a large smile at the shocked look on Lexy’s face and the lovestruck one on the snow queen. “Wha- no, look, I have work to do,” the trapper grumbled out, shaking off the woman. “I have a duty to the people that took me in, I have to avenge the destruction on their city and to do that, the Mouse Pretender has to go.”

Sawyer looked thoughtfully at the woman, “So you have to repay your debts and to do that you must defeat the Mouse King, you have to do this before anything else?” At Lexy’s nod, the Snow Queen nodded as well, “Very well, then I will go with you.”

“What?”

 

* * *

 

“You really don’t have to come with us,” Lee said to the snow queen while they were watching her guards set up a new sleigh for them to use.

“Nonsense, I have met the love of my life, and she struck me like a bolt of lightning. I must help her in her quest to prove myself as a worthy partner,” Sawyer insisted. “Though my powers aren’t as strong outside of my realm, I can still fight and be useful in this endeavor.”

Lee shook her head and left the woman to her pining, and walked over to where Kara was standing. “You’re being very quiet,” she commented, hobbling in front of the blonde. “Are you afraid of facing the Mouse King? It would be understandable if you were, he did try to kill you the last time you met.”

The blonde chuckled lowly and shook her head, “Is it bad that I’m not even thinking about it? I was just thinking about how much Lexy and the Snow Queen remind me of my sister and her fiancée.”

“They must be interesting women then,” Lee murmured, “If those two remind you of them.”

“They are,” Kara smiled before looking back at Lee. “So how are you doing with this? We’re finally going to face the Mouse King and hopefully get you back to normal so you can find the princess.”

“Relieved I think,” the nutcracker replied. “The stiffness in my joints is a bit much sometimes, so it’ll be nice to finally be able to move regularly again, even though I don’t remember much of before I was a nutcracker.”

“It must be hard not to remember who you are, not really anyway.”

“I know that I was a soldier and I have a duty to protect the people of Castellia from hardships and evil,” Lee stated, setting her hand on her chest. “And if that means facing the Mouse King even though I’m afraid then that’s what I shall do.” Her eyes softened a little and she set her hand on Kara’s shoulder, “Part of that is making sure that you get home safe and sound.”

“What about your princess? Don’t you have to find her?”

“It’s terrible and I know I could be tried for treason right now, but you’re more important than the princess right now.” She gave a small shrug, “And besides, it’s not like I can do anything about her until I remember what she actually looks like.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble, not for me,” Kara murmured, holding Lee’s hand between her own.

“You saved my life Kara, it would go against everything that I am, everything that I stand for if I don’t repay that debt.”

Kara sighed, “Okay, but remember that you’re not the only one that can fight here.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Hey, Kara, Toothpick, hurry up, we have to go,” Lexy said, rushing up to them both. “Before the snow queen starts going on about what our babies will look like, I already had to hear all about our wedding, it’s getting ridiculous.”

“You could ask her to stop if it bothers you,” Kara told her. “Sawyer doesn’t strike me as the kind to not be about consent.”

Lexy’s ears turned red again and she rushed back to the sleigh, grumbling under her breath the entire way. “She definitely reminds me of Alex,” the blonde laughed as the two followed after the trapper. “How long will it take to get to… the castle?” Kara asked, looking at the nutcracker soldier.

“The capital of Castellia?” Sawyer clarified, looking back at the blonde. “It’ll take a couple hours to get to the borders of my territory, especially since we’ll be taking it easy on the reindeer, but after that, it’ll be a few more hours southeast.”

“The castle and surrounding village sits on a small cliff with a port at the very center of the fjord,” Lee explained. “The gingerbread village where we were was quite a ways away from the castle. That's why the Mouse King didn't bother returning to look for the villagers after he destroyed the village.”

Lexy clicked the reindeer into action, and Katya and Nadja started pulling the other reindeer behind them. Traveling with the snow queen made it much easier as they left her domain because she diverted any foul weather around them. They stopped on the northeastern edge of the fjord mid-afternoon when Lexy insisted that they make camp for the night. There was a small outcropping of rocks that blocked a lot of snow from reaching the ground, and they quickly cleaned up the area to bed down for the night.

The trapper continued to blush and stutter at the Snow Queen's flirting, and set her bedroll down on the other side of Kara at the very edge to discourage any more advances for the day. Sawyer pouted but took her place at the opening for guard duty while they slept. “She really likes you,” Kara murmured to the trapper as the woman settled down next to her.

“I haven't noticed,” Lexy returned dryly, shooting Kara a quick look. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Don't think I haven't seen the looks you and the Nutcracker have exchanged,” she continued.

“There haven't been any looks,” Kara defended, “Lee's my friend.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” Lexy replied before rolling away and settling in for the night. 

Kara bit her lip and glanced over to where the Nutcracker was conversing quietly with the snow queen on the other side of the fire. She took in the way that the fire glinted off of the brass buttons on her red uniform, the sword slung around her waist, and the semi-casual set of her legs in the deep blue uniform pants. The slight smile on her face made her stomach flutter but the sadness and fear in her eyes caused her heart to thud painfully in her chest. She didn’t know why the nutcracker soldier sparked such feelings in her, but those eyes, Kara had a vague feeling that she had seen them before.

 

* * *

 

“So what’s the plan?” Kara whispered as the four of them stared up at the castle walls. She could make out mouse guards patrolling the battlements with swords clutched at the ready in their claw like hands. “And people think aliens are weird,” she muttered to herself before turning back to the group.

“Is there anyway inside without alerting those guards to our presence?” Lexy asked, looking at Lee. 

“You do know that I don’t remember much of my time as a guard right?” Lee stated, giving the trapper a blank look, “What part of that indicates that I would remember if there was a secret entrance into the castle?”

“Alright you overgrown paperweight, no need to get snippy, but if we want to get into the castle without getting killed, then we need to find another way other than over the wall or in through the front gate.”

Kara set her hand on Lee’s shoulder to keep the woman from snapping back at the trapper. “Please Lee,” she implored, gazing up at her, “Can you try to remember something?”

Lee closed her eyes and tapped at her chin. “The sewers,” she said after a few minutes. “The sewers under the castle, nobody really patrols them since they don’t think about it, but they’re tunnels running under the entire complex. There’s a opening we can get in on the cliff side of the castle, not many people know it’s there.”

“Sewers?” Sawyer crinkled her nose and looked down at her white suit. “Are you sure that’s the only way into the castle?”

“Get a move on your majesty,” Lexy insisted, pushing the shorter woman towards the cliffs. 

Lee and Kara followed behind them, small smiles on their faces as they listened to the banter between the other two women. The blonde glanced over at Lee and took in the slightly worried look on the nutcracker’s face. “Are you okay?” She asked, “You look worried.”

“I am worried,” Lee replied. “The Mouse King is not one to underestimate, the entire royal guard couldn’t defeat him and his magic when first invaded the castle, so how can we?”

“For one thing, we have the element of surprise on our side,” Kara told her. “We won’t be attacking from the front, but sneaking in from below. And we’re a bit more focused than the guard, we know that we just have to destroy his staff, not defeat him completely.”

“Though destroying his staff will defeat him completely.”

“Right, but you guys didn’t know that, so again, we have an advantage.”

Lee smiled, “You optimism is admirable and truthfully inspiring, I don’t know how you do it in face of all of the trouble you’ve been through since arriving here.”

Kara smiled sadly and looked in front of them as they wound their way around the cliffs. “I’ve lost a lot in my life,” she said slowly. “My family, my home, my culture, everyone I ever knew, and I was forced to move to a new place, new world where I had to give up even more of myself. I could have either sulked and made everyone miserable around me, feeling sorry for myself, but I chose to be happy, I chose to make the most of the life I was given. Part of that is doing my best to make sure that no one has to feel like I did when I was a child, so I live every day believing in hope.”

“That sounds,” Lee breathed out, “Like a great way to live a life.”

The blonde just smiled and the four finally reached the entrance way into the sewers. Lexy turned around and looked at the three women around her, “Alright, here is the plan, Sawyer and I will attempt to distract the guards and his royal cheesiness, you two work on breaking that scepter.”

They entered the tunnel, despite protests from the Snow Queen, and trekked through the sludge and slime under the castle. Each grate they passed under, Lexy peered around to see where they were before continuing through the tunnels. Eventually they stopped at one of the grates and the trapper nodded her approval. “Alright,” she started, turning to the rest. “Remember the plan, smash the staff, defeat the mouse.”

“Pretty simple plan,” Sawyer agreed, “In theory anyway.”

“It’s the best we have to work with,” Kara said. 

Lee softly pushed the grate out of the way and helped the other three out of the sewers before being pulled up herself. The trapper and Snow Queen made their way out of the small storage room they were in and left to distract the guards. “Do you remember how to get around this place?” Kara asked as she and Lee snuck out after them. 

“Things are starting to come back to me,” the nutcracker murmured as they crept down the hall. They heard footsteps coming down the hallway and ducked into one of the neaby rooms, swiftly closing the door behind them. “Oh,” Lee blinked, looking around the room. They were in the back of a large room littered with large shelves full of books. “This is the library,” she murmured, trailing wooden hands along the spines of the books. Dust covered every surface in the room, revealing that the Mouse King had no use for the items or the wisdom and stories they contained. 

“Do you remember coming to the library?” Kara asked.

“I…” The soldier’s voice trailed off. “I do remember coming to the library, when I was younger, my mother and father would read me stories…” She shook her head, “That’s not important, what I do remember though is that the front entrance of the library is close to the throne room.”

“And the Mouse King will definitely be in the throne room,” Kara murmured, moving through the shadows towards the set of large ornate doors on the other side of the room. The doors creaked open quietly as they pushed on the doors, the hinges groaning from disuse. They heard a loud commotion happening outside and the sound of dozen pairs of feet racing out of the castle towards the courtyard. “Whatever Lexy and Sawyer are doing, it’s working,” the blonde said, glancing around the hallways. 

Lee stepped out of the library after her and glanced out of the window, her eyes widened. “Yes, but it worked too well, it looks like the Mouse King is going to be heading out there with them.”

“Fudgecicles,” Kara stated, “What do we do?”

“I’m going out there to help,” Lee decided. “You stick to the plan, sneak up behind Mousewell and get rid of his staff.” The nutcracker rushed away before Kara could say anything else, causing the blonde to sigh and attempt to locate a way out into the courtyard without being seen. 

“They really need a map in this place,” Kara murmured as she turned down yet another hallway. Out of the window, she caught sight of her friends in the courtyard battling with the mouse king’s army while the king rodent himself watched on in amusement from the castle steps. Even with Sawyer’s magic, Kara knew they were greatly outnumbered, especially when the king raised his staff. “Oh no,” she gasped, her eyes wide. She looked around for a way out, but when she didn’t find one, she faced the window again. “This is going to hurt,” she muttered to herself. She took a few steps back until she reached the end of the hall and took a running start at the window.

Glass bit into her skin as she crashed through it, but Kara caused enough of a commotion to startle the mice in the courtyard and halt the progression of Mousewell’s attack. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and Kara ignored the pain of the glass embedded in her skin, heading straight for the rotund monarch. She grabbed a broken piece of brick off the ground and hurled it at the cowering king, the softball practice with Alex as a kid coming to the forefront of her mind. The hours spent with Jeremiah and Alex behind their house rang true as the brick connected with the large jewel on top of the staff, causing it and the rest of the scepter to shatter in the Mouse King’s hands.

“Aaah,” he hissed out, grabbing his paws as they burned from the exploding metal. Several of the mice in the courtyard cried out as well, writhing on the ground as their forms shifted from mice back into the royal guard. 

Kara sank to her knees, watching as the spells on the soldiers and castle break. Her eyes sought out her nutcracker friend and they widened as she took in the wooden appearance melting away to reveal pale skin and midnight black hair. “Lena…” she murmured, taking in the familiar face paired with the soldier’s uniform that was on the nutcracker.

“Kara!” Lee’s eyes widened as she darted towards the fallen blonde, pulling her into her arms. “It’s okay Kara,” she said, “It’s okay, we’re going to get you some help. You did it Kara.”

“Princess,” one of the guards had approached them and looked at the brunette with reverence in his eyes.

“Quickly,” Lee ordered, “Fetch the castle doctor and take Mousewell into custody along with the rest of his army, and hurry!”

“Yes Princess!” The guard saluted before rushing off to do as she ordered, taking most of the guard in the courtyard with him. Only a few remained, along with Lexy and Sawyer.

“So you’re the princess,” Kara gasped out, the taste of copper in her mouth making her wince. 

Lee smiled down at the girl in her arms, her hand reaching up to caress a soft cheek. “Yes, imagine that,” she murmured. “Princess Leanna, but you can still call me Lee.”

“It suits you,” the blonde smiled leaning her cheek against Lena’s shoulder.

“Kara, no, Kara, you’re going to be okay.”

“Now, now, no need for all of this drama.” A firm voice stated and Lee jerked her head around to locate the owner of the voice. A swirl of lights descended in front of them, and a beautiful blonde woman in a long, purple gown with translucent butterfly wings appeared in the center of the lights. 

“Ms. Grant?” Kara questioned, staring at the woman in confusion.

“That’s your Majesty to you,” the woman corrected. “Or your Grace, whichever you prefer.” She looked at the women critically before waving her hand and Kara, “No, no, this won’t do at all.” With a snap of her fingers, Kara’s wounds were healed and she was clothed in a soft blue dress. Lee’s uniform was cleaned and looked freshly pressed, and both of them were standing next to each other facing the woman.

“Um,” Kara blinked before looking down at herself, feeling the soft fabric of the dress beneath her fingers. “Who are you?” She asked, looking back at the woman, “Are you the Sugar Plum Fairy Queen?”

The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Do I look like a sugary fruit to you? What even is a sugar plum anyway, that doesn’t make any sense.” She shook her head disdainfully before returning her attention to the group, “I am the Fairy Queen though. I’ve been watching you lot, and I have to say, I’m impressed with what I’ve seen. Though Sawyer,” she spoke to the Snow Queen, “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d willingly leave the northern territory.”

“I have found my soulmate, my one true love, I must prove myself worthy,” the Snow Queen replied, grasping Lexy’s hand.

“Ah yes, the trapper,” the Fairy Queen said, eying the woman. “You’ll be pleased to hear that the Gingerbread village has been completely restored, the people will have enough supplies to get them through the winter.” Her gaze turned towards Lee, “Especially with the return of the rightful ruler of this land.”

Lee blushed and looked down to the ground, “Ah, I will try to do my best.”

“I’m sure you will,” the woman murmured, but before she could vanish, the princess called to her again.

“Ah, wait,” Lee cried, “What about Kara? She needs to get home.”

“So she does.” The fairy queen walked around the other blonde, examining her closely. “Well, Keira, the better question is, are you ready to go home?”

Kara turned to her friends and pulled Lexy and Sawyer into tight hugs. “I’ll miss you,” she murmured, releasing the two women. “Both of you.”

“We’ll miss you too Kara,” Lexy replied, trying to wipe discreetly at her eyes. “Thank you for everything.”

The blonde turned back to Lee and the princess looked at her sadly before pulling her into a tight hug. “How can I thank you?” She asked, green eyes glittering with unshed tears.

“Just be the best ruler you can be,” Kara replied, wiping at her eyes. “Be the leader I know you can be.”

Lee smiled and placed a soft kiss against the blonde’s lips. “Thank you Kara,” she murmured. Before she could reply, the Fairy Queen waved her hands and the blonde vanished in a swirl of light, her vision growing dark despite the dancing lights.

 

* * *

 

“Kara, Kara.” A soft voice pulled Kara into wakefulness and she blinked her eyes open, heavy with sleep. 

“Lee…” She mumbled out, her eyesight blurry from the sleep crumbs and medication. 

“That’s a new nickname,” the blurry figure responded. “Though I can’t say I don’t like it, has a nice ring to it.” 

Kara’s vision cleared a bit and she was met with the sight of her girlfriend smiling down at her. “Lena,” she cried, struggling to sit up. “You’re here! I thought you wouldn’t be back for another few days.”

“Well,” Lena started, helping Kara sit up and tucking a few errant strands of blonde hair behind her ears. “I finished up everything I needed to, and arranged for an earlier flight. My girlfriend was sick and mostly alone for the holidays, and I couldn’t have that now could I?”

The blonde smiled tiredly and leaned her head against Lena’s chest, glancing over at the nutcracker on her coffee table. “I missed you,” she murmured, her lips grazing Lena’s collarbone, more out of exhaustion and seeking comfort than anything else.

“I missed you too sweetie, I’m sorry I had to be away while you were dealing with this mess,” Lena soothed, running comforting fingers through long blonde hair. “Though you were mumbling in your sleep when I came in, what were you dreaming about?”

She hummed and glanced at the nutcracker again before shaking her head. “Nothing, probably just confused by something Alex put in that medicine.”

“Are you feeling better?” Lena set her forehead against Kara’s and it felt cool to the touch, not the raging furnace that Alex had told her about earlier.

“A bit, now that you’re here though, I feel a lot better.” Kara snuggled into Lena’s side and she felt the other woman wrap her arms around her, soft fingers stroking up and down her spine. With the comforting strokes and the soft beating of Lena’s heart under her ear, Kara slowly started to slip back to sleep. “Lee… look sexy in a nutcracker’s uniform,” she murmured as she drifted off, slipping off into dreamland.

Lena looked down at her girlfriend wide-eyed before looking up at the nutcracker sitting on the coffee table. She stifled back a smile and pressed a soft kiss to the blonde’s forehead. “Merry Christmas Kara.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I know that Kara is Jewish in comic canon, and I do celebrate Hanukkah along with Christmas on occasion, Passover along with Easter. I'm going with Christmas here though, and I imagine the Kara from the show is someone who would celebrate literally every holiday.


End file.
